I was a teenager when Full House made its debut on ABC back in 1987. Although I wasn’t what you’d you call a dedicated viewer, for awhile there, the show was nearly impossible to avoid, so I knew all about it. For me, Bob Saget was Danny Tanner, the loving, widowed father of three precocious kids. I also knew he hosted America’s Funniest Home Videos. While the show did provide the occasional laugh, I never understood its long term popularity.
Anyway, I just assumed Saget was a family oriented funny guy. It wasn’t until I got HBO years later and saw The Aristocrats (2005) that I realized he does a rather risqué, profane and decidedly politically incorrect stand-up routine. Sometimes this stuff works brilliantly–Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy were both profane, yet it was somehow masterful. Andrew “Dice” Clay and David Spade, not so much; Unfortunately for Saget, he falls into the latter category. He tries so hard to be profane, it just seems…dirty.


Back in August of 2008, Comedy Central aired a Roast of Bob Saget. Serving as Roastmaster is Saget’s Full House co-star John Stamos. Guests include: Greg Giraldo, Jeff Garlin, Cloris Leachman, Norm Macdonald, Jim Norton, Gilbert Gottfried, Brian Posehn, Jon Lovitz, Susie Essman, and of course, Roast Master General Jeffrey Ross. Taped messages were sent by Lewis Black, Sarah Silverman and Don Rickles (Is it just me, or does Rickles seem to know just about every comedian on the planet?).
As anyone who’s ever seen a Comedy Central or Friars Club roast knows, the guests line up to tell Bob what a terrible comedian he is (and throw a few barbs his way for dating a much younger woman) but do it with love in their hearts. Saget gives the roasters a treasure trove of material. After all, he spent eight seasons on the syrupy sweet Full House as Danny Tanner. In the roasters eyes, this means Bob has got to be at least a little bit gay. With Full House co-stars Jodie Sweetin, Dave Coulier and Lori Loughlin in the audience, Saget took it all in stride, though I thought he cringed a couple of times during one or two of the jokes about the Olsen twins, which got old pretty fast.
Hands down, the best part of the show was the appearance of Academy Award winner Cloris Leachman. Long time television viewers know her best as Phyllis Lindstrom from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, while others probably know her from her appearance as a contestant on last season’s Dancing with the Stars. Octogenarian or not, this women needs a sitcom or a recurring role. She is an absolute hoot. The five minutes she is up at the rostrum is the funniest of the night and she makes it all seem so natural. It seems like she’ll do almost anything for a laugh, even after fifty years in the business. I happily count myself among Cloris’s biggest fans.
If you already watched The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget on television, you may feel there’s little reason to buy the DVD. The DVD does offer the proceedings in an uncensored fashion, so you get to hear every swear and off color remark as the celebrities made them. Truth be told, the DVD probably doesn’t have great replay value unless you’re a Bob Saget fanatic.
The video is presented in the original 4:3 aspect ratio that it aired on television. The skin tones look good, the colors are well saturated and there are no real compression issues. The only issue I picked up was some slight interlacing on occasion, but it was nothing that affected the overall viewing experience.
A Dolby Digital Stereo track is used here, which works fine for a show that is completely driven by dialogue. There are no noticeable hisses or pops and every individual’s voice comes across loud and clear.
The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget does offer a few extras, though it seems rather arbitrary:
Behind the Scenes – Just some quick clips of some of Bob’s friends (notably a good majority of the cast from Full House) giving him some early roasting on the blue carpet.
Bob Saget Interviews – This has been cut up into bits and pieces, keeping only a series of punch lines. These were used on Comedy Central as some early promo material.
After the Roast – After the show is over, an interviewer with Comedy Central catches a few of the roasters and asks them some questions. We get to see a lot of Cloris Leachman and Bob Saget.
On the Blue Carpet – The same interviewer from the previous extra catches a lot of people on the blue carpet on their way into the performance. A lot of ridiculous questions are asked and answered, including what people would do if they were given seven minutes alone in a closet with John Stamos.